Author: Katriina Hieta

Auraprint wants to ensure that its label solutions meet both food safety and legal requirements. Since Auraprint’s core expertise lies in printing, the need for external consultation arose. This led to a collaboration with Foodwest. Foodwest’s current Development Director, Kaisa Penttilä, has been working with Auraprint for nearly ten years.

“Our cooperation with Auraprint is built on strong trust and open communication, just like all of Foodwest’s operations,” says Penttilä.

Auraprint takes customer expectations and needs seriously and strives to respond to current challenges promptly and professionally.

“As a label manufacturer, Auraprint’s primary focus is on its core business. That’s why it’s great that they bring in external expertise as needed to ensure they can provide the best possible service to their customers,” Penttilä explains.

Foodwest and Penttilä have assisted Auraprint in preparing compliance certificates, supporting internal audits, and training Auraprint’s staff.

“We understand the requirements of the food industry and what they expect from labels. We follow food legislation and its changes and provide practical tools to help companies meet the requirements,” says Penttilä.

Developing Internal Audits Together

Penttilä has been involved in developing Auraprint’s internal audits.

“Auraprint asked me to participate in internal audits, which involve reviewing the company’s processes and systems. Initially, I acted as an internal auditor myself, but soon we started training Auraprint’s own internal auditors. This process has continued to evolve through close collaboration,” she explains.

Certifications Validate Progress and Commitment to Safety

Auraprint is a development-oriented company that seeks to incorporate the latest technology and be a frontrunner in its industry.

“It has been great to see how Auraprint takes initiative and moves forward systematically, following the principles of continuous improvement. It’s a pleasure to work with them,” Penttilä praises.

At the end of 2023, Auraprint decided to implement the ISO 22000 food safety management system. Penttilä was invited as an expert to support the project through training sessions, reviews, and workshops. The pre-audit has now been completed, and the final certification audits will take place in January 2025.

“Auraprint recognizes the potential of the food industry and wants to assure its customers that food safety is managed systematically. The new requirements have been well understood and effectively communicated within the organization,” says Penttilä.

ISO 22000 brings visible changes to Auraprint’s operations.

“For example, hygienic protective clothing, hair coverings, and hygiene guidelines have been implemented in production under the guidance of the HACCP team,” Penttilä lists.

Auraprint Leading the Way in Sustainable Labels for the Food Industry

New sustainability requirements from the EU are emerging, and these are also reflected in discussions with Auraprint’s customers. Many are particularly interested in the carbon footprint of their products.

“Auraprint has been calculating carbon footprints using the Climate Calc software for several years now, and this information is already provided to customers during the quotation phase,” Penttilä explains.

She is pleased that Auraprint is taking concrete steps toward sustainability. The certified ISO 14001 system brings clear environmental objectives that are monitored and acted upon accordingly.

“Auraprint is a highly environmentally conscious organization and strives to incorporate sustainability into all its operations. The solar panels on the factory roof are a great example of this,” Penttilä remarks.

Expertise in Food Safety and Labeling Materials

Penttilä, who holds a degree in Chemical Engineering, previously worked in plastic material development. Quality management and various management systems have been integral to her career, making her expertise highly relevant to her work with Auraprint.

“My background in chemical engineering provides a solid foundation for discussions on label structures and properties, whether it’s adhesives, coatings, printing inks, plastics, or other materials,” she reflects.

Penttilä joined Foodwest 12 years ago and specializes in food safety. In addition to client projects, she serves as a team leader for Foodwest’s experts and as a member of the management team.

“My work is incredibly diverse and dynamic. Working with Auraprint has been rewarding for me as well—we’ve had great team spirit from the very beginning,” she says.

As the EU continues to demand more sustainability initiatives from companies, Foodwest is already looking ahead. According to Penttilä, the growing emphasis on sustainability and new corporate reporting requirements will significantly impact companies operating in Finland in the coming years.

“Auraprint has long incorporated sustainability into its operations, providing a strong foundation for further development. I see sustainability as a major future trend,” Penttilä predicts.

Exporting plays a crucial role in Finland’s economy, and Penttilä believes Auraprint also has an important contribution to make in this area.

“Auraprint supports the growth of Finnish food exports with high-quality labeling solutions. Labels and stickers play a significant role in food packaging, and Auraprint can provide both sustainable and cost-effective solutions,” Penttilä concludes.

In a printing house, a label goes through several different stages of work, the accuracy and quality of which is assessed in many ways in-house. Auraprint’s Quality Coordinator Hanne Palomäki says camera technology is a great help in quality control and inspection.

Camera technology is used to monitor the quality and accuracy of the printed product. The camera technology compares the customer’s approved proof with the label made at the printing house and detects any discrepancies.

“Camera technology is used on the press and in post-production. The technology is accurate and gives us the security of knowing that the label we print is the same one that the customer has approved,” says Palomäki.

The presses also use wear tests to ensure, for example, the durability of the label surface and the permanence of the printing ink. Although the majority of checks are carried out using machine technology, the human eye is still relied upon to verify the accuracy of colours.

“The printed colour model is compared with the actual label model. Printers have really good colour vision, and their eye for colour makes all the difference. Comparing colours could even be called an art form,” tells Palomäki.

The technology can detect the thickness, depth and darkness of colour. Although the data is checked by machine, last-minute colour comparisons are still made by the human eye.

“The eye is ultimately the best tool for comparing colours. Consumers in shops also look at products with the human eye, so it’s important to see what the colour will look like,” Palomäki mentions.

Auraprint is currently working on a new ISO 22000 food safety standard project. The system should be officially audited by the end of this year.

“Our biggest customers are food manufacturers or packers, so food safety is important to us. With this certification, we ensure that hygiene is in order in our factory. For example, we don’t wear outdoor shoes inside, we use hair nets and we are careful about handling allergens,” says Palomäki.

No other label printer in Finland is known to have ISO 22000 certification, so the project is otherwise significant for Auraprint. The company also uses the HACCP food safety self-monitoring system, which is designed to identify hazards.

“In HACCP, we assess the severity of the hazard and the means of control. We have had an HACCP team in place since 2015. HACCP and ISO 22000 go hand in hand in achieving the best result,” says Palomäki.

Although quality control is strict, mistakes can sometimes happen. When they do, Auraprint has a quality feedback system that is used both to detect errors and to prevent future ones.

“If we notice a fault before sending the product to the customer, we make a near-miss report. We find out what has happened and why, go through the matter with the person responsible and calculate the costs. We take corrective action to ensure that the product is delivered to the customer in the correct form,” says Palomäki.

Situation reports are reviewed by the whole company four times a year to prevent similar situations from happening again. The cause of the error is quickly identified so that it can be corrected and the materials can be reprinted.

The quality feedback system works in much the same way if a defective product ends up with the customer. The first step is to check whether there is a material defect, whether there is a problem with the subject matter or whether the error occurred in production.

“I check the response patterns and counter-samples of the material and we clarify the course of the event. Sometimes it can be difficult to find the cause of an error. Sometimes we’ve even had to take a sauna with the labels to find out whether the reason for a quality defect is, for example, excessive humidity,” laughs Palomäki.

Auraprint’s quality control is so precise that some of the errors detected at the factory would not be a problem for the customer. Mistakes are also prevented by carefully reviewing the material with the client.

“The client may send us requests, which we realise will be challenging to implement. It’s then good to communicate with them and discuss together whether the material could be changed to make it more printable,” Palomäki says.

Responsibility starts with leadership. At Auraprint, we take responsible actions in all areas, from company values to staff safety and well-being, material choices, and resource efficiency in production.

Our operations are certified for quality and environmental issues, and we are committed to continuous improvement in reducing our environmental impact and ensuring quality. A high level of quality means fewer complaints and less wastage.

We significantly reduced our energy consumption

During 2022, we reduced our energy consumption by 7.8%. It is a significant figure for the company size of Auraprint, which is constantly increasing its production volumes.

Investments in new technology, changing our lighting to energy-efficient LED technology, and the renewable energy from our solar power plant have contributed positively to reducing our energy consumption.

In 2023, we want to be even more sustainable

This year, we aim to continue reducing our emissions and energy consumption. To achieve this, we have started to take action from the beginning of the year. 

We are making a significant investment in renewable energy by increasing the number of solar panels on the roof of our factory building. This action will almost double the amount of solar power. After installing the solar panels, our solar power plant will be able to provide around 15-20% of our annual energy needs.

This year, we have also invested in LED technology in our printing presses for ink drying. In this way, we are achieving significant savings in energy consumption compared to traditional UV lamps.

We also continue to explore and offer eco-friendly material options. Recycled materials are available in both paper and plastics. Our selection also includes pine oil-based PP and PE Forest. We have increased the amount of Ravenwood Linerless labels in our production. The advantage of these labels is that they have no backing paper and therefore are a very ecological option to minimise waste.

We also want to invest in being a responsible employer. One of the ways we have implemented this aspect is by providing adjustable electronic desks for all who wish that and work in our office. On the factory side, an occupational physiotherapist will regularly visit the production side to improve work ergonomics by suggesting corrections to working postures and improvements to assistive equipment. Our responsibility work continues this year.